Pollux and Thestias
by public static void
Summary: The Black Planet is a world of iron. It falls from the red clouds, covers the ground in sharp angles, and buries a culture of magic and tradition under the harshness of a burning star.


**For** **the Ministry of Magic. Proven Interest in Space - Task: Write an AU that is set on another planet and with a different way of life.**

This is a mix of HP's fantasy and sci-fi, with the characters living in the planet Thestias, a real planet orbiting the star Pollux. Said planet doesn't have any known moons IRL, but here it has two: Hatzias and Ledaria.

In Thestias, magic is largely believed to be extinguished.

Warnings: mentions of human experimentation.

 **ooo-ooo-ooo**

Winter ironfalls were a beautiful sight. The dark clumps of iron falling from the reddish clouds hit everything on their way down, stopping life either for a few minutes or for three turns of Hatzias. Andromeda hoped it was the latter case that day and touched the place where her gold microchip was embedded into her hand. It was an uncomfortable thing that took her mind away from the current weather, but it allowed her to perform simple spells easier than with a wand.

Barely three generations since wands were outlawed had passed. Ninety years with no wizard or witch who openly owned one. The only people who could wield them were the Unspeakables, but not much was known about what they did. Her own aunt Cassiopeia had belonged to the esoteric branch of the Ministry of Magic and the work had left on her deep scars that Andromeda couldn't fathom. Cassiopeia Black had been the last witch of her family who cast spells with a wand.

Andromeda frowned at the bit of metal remembering the words of her Aunt.

 _"The chip lets you forego a wand, that is true," Cassiopeia Black would say in a whisper after taking every precaution not to be heard. "But it also sends data to the Ministry. I would know. I helped design the program."_

 _Andromeda thought it a marvel at first until one by one her friends began to disappear after casting dubious spells intended for comfort and vanity._

 _"Why would you do something like this, Aunt?" she asked once, fury burning in her eyes._

 _Aunt Cassiopeia raised her chin._

 _"We have to do what is needed to survive."_

Andromeda believed her Aunt had been mistaken but right then she could do nothing about it. Secretary Riddle, a powerful man, had spent the last three years trying to reach the position of Minister. He was a friend, one who believed witches and wizards should go back to their origins instead of trying to become multiple arms of a single head. Andromeda thought he was the only hope for the wizarding traditions to return.

Green lightning fell in that moment. She was lucky to see the instant it touched the rocky ground through a window soaked in Flobberworm Mucus to prevent the radiation from entering the house. Her sigh got lost in the roaring thunder that shook her to the core. After three years, it seemed the time had come again for the bunkers to be used.

She was not in danger; her house was reinforced with metal and magic. It was the unfortunate outsiders who would die by the hundreds. Those who had no magic perished easily in a world meant for survival. It was always like that when the ionized iron fell, its radiation mingling with Pollux's own whips of radiation. Sometimes Ledaria would shield them, but its travel around Pollux also meant she couldn't be a barrier every time the star lashed out.

The bad news was that she would have to go out and collect the lucky children who would become Sorted citizens. It was usually Regulus' work, but that day he had asked her to step in and she couldn't say no to Reggie. For the children, it meant good news but for Andromeda, it meant a day where at least thirty-one hours would be focused on them instead of her research.

 _"What did you do before retiring, Auntie?" she asked Aunt Cassiopeia, waiting patiently for an answer that would mark her childhood._

 _Her aunt looked thoughtfully at her and then walked to the window. Red clouds loomed over their sector, predicting the ironfall that would come at night._

 _"I helped us evolve further."_

Andromeda thought of the times when Aunt Cassiopeia had flat-out refused to tell her what they did during the experiments and felt ashamed. Her aunt had taught her to be a survivor; the evolved species amongst all types of humans. The experimentation was something sick, though. It was a dark thing that filled her pockets with gold and covered her with a blanket of secrecy that would protect her against Thestias' inclement weather.

 _"That's why we call Thestias the Black Planet, Andromeda," Rodolphus, her husband, had told her once. "It's not the iron but our ethics what stains the ground black."_

He was a philosopher and she a scientist. They differed many times and their opinions were on opposite sides at least once a day but in that matter they agreed. The Ministry of Magic, in their attempt to help magic survive, killed the consciousness of the Sorted and used the non-Sorted to experiment. And the outsiders… They were left alone to die of radiation poisoning or something else. The saddest thing was that Andromeda couldn't really care.

Her hands shook with the instinctive need of holding a wand between her fingers. It was all she wanted.

The ground shook with the rumbling thunder. At least the kids she would pick up that day would survive for another night.


End file.
